Friday was day 10 of the federal government shutdown — with no signs that the stalemate will end soon.
In Hawaiʻi, state transportation officials say operations have not been impacted by the shutdown, unlike some control towers in other U.S. cities that have not had enough air traffic controllers to report to work.
Cities like Nashville, Boston, and Philadelphia have been affected, and more than 50,000 flights are scheduled for the long weekend holiday.
Flight delays across the state are not occurring, according to the Hawaiʻi State Department of Transportation. U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda met with air traffic controllers on Thursday in Honolulu. The Conversation spoke to her Friday morning.
Interview highlights
On air traffic controllers in Hawaiʻi
REP. JILL TOKUDA: They're continuing to show up for work. They're doing their job with high level of professionalism. They all understand the public service that they do every single day to keep us safe. But even before the shutdown, they were understaffed. And so I don't think many people realize they put in six-day weeks, 10 hours a day in a very high-stress job. And so add to that the fact that you may not be getting that paycheck, and for some of the folks that I talked to yesterday, they're trainees, so they haven't even gotten their first paycheck yet, and now that's going to be delayed. It's a high-stress job that our folks in Hawaiʻi, easily over 200 of them, do with a high degree of professionalism, but right now, just the added stress that the shutdown means that they're doing this without pay, and they really obviously want to see this come to a close soon, in terms of the shutdown.
On the temperature among federal workers
TOKUDA: From before the shutdown, the morale of our air traffic controllers, any of our federal workers, honestly, has been, quite frankly, at an all-time low when you have the immediate firing of probationary employees. Remember the start of the year, which was found to be illegal, but nonetheless, people lost their jobs. You had the DOGE and the Deferred Resignation Program, which just last week meant there were literally thousands of people in Hawaiʻi removed from their roles because they took those deferred resignations. And many felt very bullied into taking part in what was for some an early retirement kind of program, when many would have still, I am sure, would have loved to serve, and so you've just seen all of these threats coming — today alone, the White House saying they're going to start to substantially lay off federal workers. So that threat of losing their jobs right now, I think anyone furloughed is going to feel some concern that they could be getting their pink slips. This is an unprecedented strategy used within a shutdown period, something we've never seen, and something, quite frankly, that's illegal, but that all weighs on the minds and the hearts of our federal employees, who just feel very, I think, demoralized. They feel that they have worked, they've committed themselves to public service, they have acted with professionalism, they've carried out their job, and yet they feel a lot of disrespect coming from this administration in terms of the way they've been treated, the way they've been talked about in the news and in social media. So it's a very difficult time where they really need us to show them some aloha.
On meeting with Republicans to end the government shutdown
TOKUDA: We'll be back Tuesday night, on the verge of when many federal workers will be missing their next paycheck. We're going to show up to work, and we're going to let the country know that we're ready to end the shutdown. Republicans need to get back and start to really negotiate so we can reopen government. So I'll be heading back next week. But keep in mind, they hold the gavels. They control the White House. They control the majority in the House and the Senate. We can't hold the hearing. We can't even engage in session unless they do. But we're going to show back up next week, Tuesday and Wednesday, be in town, and they need to do the same. They need to come back, too.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 10, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
